Opposite (semantics) facts for kids

Words that are opposites are like two sides of a coin – they are completely different from each other. For example, if something is long, it means it's definitely not short. We call this a 'binary' relationship because there are always two words in a pair of opposites. The connection between these opposite words is called opposition. You can usually find the opposite of a word by asking, "What is the opposite of (this word)?"

The word antonym is often used to mean the same thing as 'opposite'. However, 'antonym' can also have more specific meanings. For example, graded antonyms are pairs of words that are opposites but exist on a scale, like hot and cold. You can be a little hot, or very hot, or a little cold, or very cold. Complementary antonyms are opposites that don't have a scale in between, like push and pull. You either push or you pull, there's no in-between. Relational antonyms are words that are opposites only because they describe a relationship, like teacher and pupil.

What Are Opposites?

Opposites are words that have meanings that are completely different or far apart from each other. Sometimes, a language might not have a direct opposite word for something, even if we can imagine one. For example, the word devout (meaning very religious) doesn't have a single opposite word. But we can still think of a scale where devout is at one end, and the opposite idea is at the other.

Sometimes, we can create opposites by adding prefixes like un- or non- to a word. For instance, undevout means not devout. You can also say non-person. But sometimes, a word looks like it has a prefix, but the original word doesn't exist, like inept. It looks like it should be in- plus ept, but ept isn't a word on its own! These are called unpaired words.

Opposites are a special kind of "incompatibility." This means if something is one thing, it cannot be the other.

• If something is fast, it means it is not slow.
• If something is stationary (not moving), it means it is not moving.

Words that are opposites usually have these features:

• Two words: Opposites almost always come in pairs.
• Clear meaning: The opposite meaning is usually obvious.

Some made-up languages use special prefixes to create opposites easily. For example, in Esperanto, bona means "good," and malbona means "bad." In Newspeak, ungood means "bad."

Here are some different kinds of opposites:

• Antipodals: These are pairs of words that describe opposite ends of a real or imagined line.
  • Examples: left and right, up and down, first and last, beginning and end.
• Disjoint opposites: These are words in a group that are completely different from each other, but there might be other words missing in the group.
  • Examples: red and blue (colors), one and ten (numbers), Monday and Friday (days).
• Reversives: These are pairs of verbs (action words) that describe opposite actions. One action is the reverse of the other.
  • Examples: rise and fall, accelerate (speed up) and decelerate (slow down), shrink and grow.
• Converse (semantics)|Converses: Also called relational opposites, these are pairs where one word describes a relationship, and the other describes the same relationship from the opposite side.
  • Examples: parent and child, teacher and student, buy and sell.
• Overlapping antonyms: These are pairs of words where one implies something positive, but the other implies something negative.
  • Example: "x is better than y" doesn't mean x is good. But "x is worse than y" usually means x is bad. Other examples are faster and slower, or dirtier and cleaner.

Types of Antonyms

An antonym is one of a pair of words that have opposite meanings. Each word in the pair is the opposite of the other. A word can sometimes have more than one antonym. There are three main types of antonyms, based on how their meanings are related.

Gradable Antonyms

A gradable antonym is one of a pair of words with opposite meanings that exist on a continuous scale or spectrum. Think of temperature: it's a continuous scale. So, hot and cold are gradable antonyms because they are at opposite ends of this scale. You can be a little hot, or very hot, or somewhere in between.

• Other examples: heavy : light, fat : skinny, dark : light, young : old, early : late, empty : full, dull : interesting.

Complementary Antonyms

A complementary antonym is one of a pair of words with opposite meanings where there is no continuous scale between them. They are either one or the other. For example, there's no continuous scale between odd and even numbers, but they are opposites. So, they are complementary antonyms.

• Other examples: mortal : immortal, exit : entrance, exhale : inhale, occupied : vacant.

Relational Antonyms

A relational antonym is one of a pair of words that describe a relationship from opposite points of view. For instance, there isn't a single opposite word for teacher, but teacher and pupil are opposites because they are part of the same relationship, just from different sides. This makes them relational antonyms.

• Other examples: husband : wife, doctor : patient, predator : prey, teach : learn, servant : master, come : go, parent : child.

Auto-Antonyms

An auto-antonym is a special word that can have opposite meanings depending on how it's used or what definition you're looking at. It's like one word has two different jobs!

• enjoin: Can mean to stop something (like a court order) OR to command someone to do something.
• fast: Can mean moving quickly (like a fast car) OR fixed firmly in place (like a fast knot).
• cleave: Can mean to split something apart OR to stick very closely to something.
• sanction: Can mean a punishment or prohibition OR permission or approval.
• stay: Can mean to remain in a place OR to guide direction or movement.

See also

In Spanish: Antónimo para niños

• -onym
• Antithesis
• Litotes
• Property (philosophy)
• Semantic differential
• Thesaurus